I will not die a monster
by SpiderWolf
Summary: Doc Ock doesn't drown, and after returning to the lab, attempts to rebuild the inhibitor chip. One morning, a young girl appears unconcious on his doorstep, a strange note around her neck. Otto is soon to realise, this girl is more like him than anyone el
1. Prologue

Ok, this is my first ever fanfic, so please excuse me if it seems a bit slow at first. This story is set after Spiderman 2, and it is based entirely on Doctor Octopus. You could say he is slightly OOC, as he isn't evil in my story. But anyway, please just R&R, and I will be eternally grateful lol

**I will not die a monster**

Prologue 

The broken science lab stood eerily at the end of New York pier, the autumn wind whistling through its metal frame and wooden boards. Abandoned and empty, nobody had entered since last month, when a scientist had nearly destroyed half of New York with an unstable experiment. The experiment had been intended to provide a source of clean, renewable energy in the form of an artificial sun. However the scientist had miscalculated, despite his protests, and the experiment had gone out of control. It became a hugely powerful magnet, attracting anything metal surrounding it, including the metal sheets which layered the steel frame of the lab. People had fled, and the experiment was shut down, the scientist's dreams killed, along with his beloved wife Rosie.

Now, one month on, the building stood alone and deserted, nearly completely destroyed save for its steel frame and cracked timber shell. Well it was not completely deserted, not quite. For inside the broken metal and burnt wood sat a solitary figure, wearing dark glasses and a trench coat, his shoulders hunched as he worked tirelessly upon a wooden desk. Beneath his leather trench coat, four metal tentacles slowly writhed from side to side, occasionally emitting a small hiss of displeasure at being covered up. Several times these monstrous appendages attempted to rise from within the coat, to disrupt what the man was trying to build. However they never succeeded. For as soon as the tentacles began to rise, the man would turn and look at them from over his dark glasses, giving them a fierce glare. They would then hiss and slide back beneath the coat, awaiting their next opportunity to rise again.

Now, as you can imagine, a man with four metal tentacles under his coat could be no ordinary citizen of New York. And he wasn't, not anymore. The man's name was Doctor Otto Octavius, although to the citizens of New York he was more commonly known as Doctor Octopus.

The interesting thing was, it was this very man, Doctor Octavius, who had caused the near destruction of the science lab one month before. He had been so determined, so set on showing the world his new invention, that he had failed to realise he miscalculated. So, his experiment had been destroyed, shut down by Spiderman in fact, and Otto was left with a broken dream and a broken heart. For not only had he managed to destroy half the lab, but his wife Rosie had been killed by falling glass as the lab began to collapse.

And the tentacles? They had been designed by Otto as a way of safely handling the experiment, as they were heat proof and were not affected by magnets. The tentacles were attached to Otto by a metal harness which secured around his waist, and he controlled them through a neural network which ran up the length of his spine. This network was attached to the scientist's neural system by pins which temporarily fused the network to his spine and brain. An inhibitor chip allowed Otto to gain complete control over the tentacles, without them controlling him. At least for a little while. During the disaster however, the tentacles became permanently fused to Otto's spine, and the inhibitor chip was destroyed. From then on Otto's mind became overpowered by the artificial intelligence of the tentacles, and he became a criminal.

Several days ago however, Otto had suffered a near death experience after attempting to recreate his experiment. After finally managing to regain control of his mind with help from Spiderman, aka, Peter Parker, Otto had managed to drown the experiment in the river. Unfortunately, Otto had accidentally gone down with it as well, and had nearly drowned. Luckily, his tentacles saved him, and managed to drag his unconscious body back onto the pier. From then on Otto was determined to regain complete control over his tentacles, and began to rebuild the inhibitor chip. This of course enraged the tentacles, and they tried desperately to gain control over Otto's mind once again. However Otto was determined, and eventually the tentacles backed down, letting him get on with his work. At least for the time being anyway…


	2. Chapter 1: Death repeats itself

**Chapter 1) Death repeats itself**

Otto sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to stop himself from going to sleep. He was sitting by a wooden desk, pieces of metal and electric components littered all across it. Outside the lab shone a bright crescent moon, and according to Otto's clock, it was nearly 3am. Sleep was a very tempting prospect for the scientist, however he needed to finish building the inhibitor chip, and he needed to do it fast. He had no idea how long he would be able to fight off the voices in his head, the terrible voices of the tentacles. They kept hissing to him, telling him that he was making a big mistake, that he didn't want to rebuild the chip.

But Otto did want to rebuild it; he wanted to drown out these horrid voices for good, to stop them taking over his mind. The last time it had happened they had forced Otto into becoming a dangerous criminal, hurting anyone who got in his way. Otto wasn't a monster, and he certainly wasn't a criminal. Once he gained control of the tentacles once again, then he could go on and try to get them removed.

Of course, this wasn't proving to be easy, as the tentacles didn't want him to gain control again. They kept rising from within his trench coat, infuriated that he had covered them over even when they weren't in public. However Otto was resolute, and with a furious glare he kept them at bay.

Eventually however, Otto had to accept that he was exhausted, and if he tried to work anymore on the chip then he was probably going to make a mistake. Otto couldn't afford to make any mistakes; he'd had enough trouble finding the pieces he needed as it was. So, with a weary groan Otto pushed back from his desk and stretched, his spine clicking straight again painfully.

With a grimace Otto put his hand on his back where the pain had come from, and felt the metal of the tentacles running up his spine. Shaking his head, the scientist rose to his feet and carefully picked up all the pieces of the chip, placing them carefully in a box. He locked the padlock on the box and put the key in his shoe. At least if the tentacles tried to open the box, they wouldn't be able to get the key without waking him.

Yawning widely, Otto walked over to a corner of the lab and gently slid down onto the floor, his tentacles curling around his waist as he did so. The exhausted scientist placed his hat on his head, and pulled it down low before closing his eyes. His mind was racing with calculations for building the chip, and in the end it was several hours before Otto finally fell asleep.

_In his dream Otto stood alone in a vast grey desert, a starless sky looming overhead. There was no light, not even a moon to brighten the eerie emptiness that surrounded him. And yet, strangely, Otto could see everything perfectly, not that there was much to see in the first place. All the same, he could see the sand beneath his feet and the black sky above him as clear as crystal. Slowly, Otto turned to look behind him, a cold wind billowing through his trench coat and kicking up icy grains of sand. Nothing, There was not a thing to be seen for miles in every direction, and Otto realised that he was alone. _

_Sighing, the scientist shook his head and rubbed his neck, not sure what he was supposed to do next. However, as he ran his fingers up and down the top of his spine, Otto quickly realised that something was different. His eyes widening with surprise, Otto quickly took off his trench coat, despite the cold, and looked at his back. His tentacles were gone, and there was no sign that they had ever been there at all. Hardly daring to believe his luck, Otto took one last look at his bare back and put his coat on once again._

"_What are you looking at sweetheart…?" A gentle voice whispered close to the scientist's ear. Whirling around, Otto's dark eyes fell on a beautiful woman standing before him. Her long brunette hair fell in waves down her back, and her bright blue eyes shone brightly despite the lack of light. Staring in disbelief, Otto's voice wavered as he finally spoke. "R...Rosie? Is that really you?" Tears fell from the man's eyes as he looked at his wife, his wife who had died one month before. She had been killed by a falling pane of glass, and yet here she was, standing before him more beautiful than ever._

_Smiling sweetly, Rosie nodded and stepped forward, blue eyes shining. Raising her hand to Otto's face, she stroked his cheek softly. "Yes, it's me… I'm here…" Tears of happiness fell from Otto's eyes as he looked at his wife and smiled. He took Rosie's hands in his and stepped closer to her, kissing her forehead. "I thought I'd lost you…" Rosie laughed lightly, her gentle voice ringing like music through the desert. She rolled her eyes and kissed Otto on the lips. "You always did worry too much about me." Rosie replied with a gentle smile. "That's why I love you… But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere…" She whispered softly, running her delicate fingers through his dark hair. Smiling in return, Otto sighed and leant forward to kiss his wife. _

_Suddenly, a burning pain ripped through his spine, causing Otto to yell out in pain and surprise, and he fell on his hands and knees to the floor. Gasping, Rosie leapt forward and knelt down next to her husband, her eyes full of fear and concern. "Otto… Otto was is it?" She asked in distress, putting her hand on his shoulder. Convulsing in pain, Otto yelled hoarsely as four metal tentacles ripped through his trench coat and rose up like snakes from within his back. Swaying slightly, the tentacles opened their jaw-like claws and lunged forward at Rosie. Turning his head, Otto screamed as the appendages wrapped around his beloved wife, squeezing the life out of her. Tears rolled down Rosie's face as she looked at Otto. "Why…" She asked weakly, before the tentacles snapped her spine and she screamed in agony. "NO………!" Otto roared, watching helplessly as his wife's lifeless body fell with a thud to the floor, bloody slowly seeping from her body…._

Otto continued to scream as he woke up, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Looking around him with wide, pain filled eyes; Otto ripped off his hat and glasses and stood up. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the image of his dead wife flashed across his eyes, and Otto cried into his trembling hands. He could feel his tentacles rise slowly from under his coat, cautious but curious. Looking down at them through his hands, Otto's eyes burned with fury. "You… This is all your fault; you took my wife from me, turned me into a monster, and made me almost kill a train load of people." He growled in loathing and disgust. His tentacles rose up angrily and hissed in defiance, telling him that he himself had killed his wife, it was_ his_ experiment which took her life when he failed to realise that he had miscalculated. _We had nothing to do with it_, they told him.

"SHUT UP!" Otto roared, and lashed out, grabbing a tentacle in his fist. "Now you listen to _me…" _He said dangerously, glowering at them. "I don't want to hear another thing from any of you, or so help me, I will take a chainsaw and rip you all apart…" This seemed to hit home, as the tentacles gave one last hiss and retreated back under Otto's coat.


	3. Chapter 2: Suddenly, you're not alone

**Chapter 2) Suddenly, you're not alone**

Emitting a small sigh, Otto looked up through the ceiling of the lab, and saw with surprise that the sky was no longer dark and littered with stars, but instead was a pleasant mixture of orange and sapphire; the colour of morning. Raising his eyebrows, Otto frowned as he realised that he must have slept for longer than he thought. He quickly shook his head as the topic of sleep brought up the memory of his nightmare, and turned his attention to the wooden desk where he had been working the night before.

Otto groaned and rubbed his forehead tiredly, he wasn't looking forward to another day of constant work, especially not on an empty stomach. The scientist hadn't eaten in nearly two days, and the lack of food and sleep was really taking its toll on his body. His brown hair was greasy and unkempt while his eyes were deep set with dark bags. Otto had never had much colour on him, being a scientist he never spent much time out in the sun, however now his ashen face had practically no colour left. The scientist was also rapidly losing weight, and his body was growing weaker by the day. At times he found it hard even to stand, as the heavy tentacles put a lot of pressure on his back.

Despite his diminishing appearance however, Otto was still determined to finish his work, and food was often the last thing on his mind. On the other hand, the scientist quickly realised that if he didn't eat something soon, he was either going to pass out or have to submit to the tentacles demands.

Breathing out heavily, Otto looked out at the bright lights of New York, and told himself that he would clean himself up as best he could, then go out and get something to eat before the majority of people woke up. That way he would attract less attention. Plus he wouldn't have to steal the food, as he still had a couple of hundred dollars which he had stolen back when he was a criminal. Otto wasn't proud of how he had got the money, but he wasn't about to let himself attract more attention, not if he could buy something rather than steal it.

Smiling for the first time in weeks, the prospect of food cheered Otto up considerably, and he went to get himself ready. After a few minutes he walked towards the lab door wearing a change of clothing, his hair combed back with his hat and dark glasses on. He realised that he needed to buy something else soon too; new clothes. It wasn't going to be easy, as he was recognised by most of New York as "Doctor Octopus" and his trademark outfit was his trench coat, hat and dark glasses. But there wasn't much he could do about that, as that was the only way he could hide his tentacles _and_ not be recognised as Otto Octavius. Besides, if he ran into trouble then he could get away easily; the cops were hardly a challenge.

Shaking his head in frustration, Otto realised that he was stalling, and quickly opened the door, going to step out. However a hiss from his tentacles stopped him, and he looked quickly down at the floor, wondering what was wrong. His dark eyes fell on a long bulky object beneath his foot, and Otto recoiled as he realised that it was a person. Blinking in amazement, his tentacles rising up curiously, Otto crouched down slightly to get a better look at the person, praying that it wasn't a corpse. Through the half light of the morning, the scientist saw that the person was in fact female, with medium length brownish hair that covered her face. She was wearing a long sleeved blouse of a dark material, and a dark gypsy skirt that covered her legs completely. He couldn't even see her shoes, the skirt was that long. Cautiously, Otto moved his hand forward and placed his index and middle finger on the girl's neck, checking for her pulse. To his immense relief, her pulse was steady, if a little slow, but at least she was alive.

Getting down lower, Otto rested back on his haunches and rubbed his stubbled chin, his eyes never leaving the girl beneath him. What on earth was she doing outside the lab? Was she asleep? Unconscious? Why?

A million questions flitted through the scientist's brain, until he finally came to one conclusion. The girl must have got drunk the previous night, lost her way along the pier, and fallen asleep outside the building. A foolhardy and dangerous thing to do, but this was New York, and things like this happened all the time.

Otto rolled his eyes at the idiocy of the youth, and went to rise again, deciding to leave her there to wake up, hopefully with a hangover to teach her a lesson. However he stopped and looked back at the girl, deciding to at least check her face for injuries before he left. Moving his hand towards her again, Otto softly pushed back her hair to reveal her face, and his heart skipped a beat as he saw that the girl looked no more than about 15 years old.

Her skin was unblemished, and Otto saw with relief that she had no visible facial injuries. Her age amazed him though, as he had expected a drunken youth to look at least 18, not like a high school cheerleader. What on Earth was she doing away from her house this early in the morning? It wasn't even the weekend, it was Thursday. Otto bit his lip and removed his glasses, unsure of what to do next. If she had been a college student, then he would have left her to wake up and leave. But this girl was still a child, at least in his eyes, and he didn't want to leave her on her own.

Otto was still considering what to do when a sharp wind blew across the pier, whipping his coat around his knees. Cocking his head, Otto peered down at the girl's neck as the wind blew her hair free. His sharp eyes picked out a dark line across her neck, and upon closer inspection, Otto realised that it was a thin rope, almost like wool. Raising an eyebrow, the scientist reached down and gently lifted the girl's head, pulling the rope free from her neck. Standing up, Otto looked at the rope and saw a piece of card hanging like a pendant from it. A small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, Otto looked down at the girl. "Well you sure are full of surprises tonight…" He said quietly, looking at the card and reading the tidy handwriting upon it. **_This girl is equipped with your technology Octavius, suddenly you're not alone…_**

Otto stared in confusion at the card, reading it over and over again, trying to make sense of what it was saying. This girl… equipped with his technology… What did it mean? She looked normal to him. Otto gazed at the girl, in more mystification than ever. This was either some very absurd joke, or there was more to the girl than Otto had first seen. His forehead creased with worry, and Otto looked to his tentacles which were still looking pointedly at the girl.

"What am I supposed do?" Otto muttered as he too, looked at the girl. _Leave her here…_ The tentacles replied plainly_. She is of no use to us…_ Otto scowled at the appendages, glaring at them through his glasses. "You're right," he said icily. "She _is_ of no use to you, but she may be of use to me…"

The tentacles began to protest hastily, but Otto proceeded to ignore them, instead bending low to pick up the girl. Gently he placed his hands underneath her back and neck, lifting her tenderly into his arms. The tentacles moved to towards the girl, and Otto flicked them a furious glance. "Don't you dare touch her," he snapped, and the tentacles moved away, rising behind him and watching over his head.

Otto walked carefully back into the lab, the young girl held firmly but carefully in his arms. He was thankful that she didn't weigh much more than about 9 stone, otherwise he may not have been able to carry her in his weakened state. Spotting a secluded corner of the lab, Otto walked over and tenderly placed the girl down, pushing her hair softly off her face. Through the light of his lab, Otto could better appreciate the young girl's beauty. Her hair, not actually brown, was instead a beautiful red-gold, while her soft skin was flawless and lightly tanned.

Otto found himself drawn to the girls innocent beauty as he watched her sleeping form, her chest rising and falling slowly as she breathed in and out. However his tentacles found this irritating and one poked Otto in the back of the neck. Spinning his head round, Otto took off his glasses and glared darkly at them. "Maybe you haven't got the hint yet, but you are seriously pissing me off this morning..." He snapped angrily at the tentacles. _Leave the girl_, the tentacles replied unfazed. _She's not going anywhere anytime soon, she's out cold._

Otto continued to glare, however he had to admit that they were right. It was no good him staring at the girl, if she woke up suddenly then she was going to be frightened out of her mind. So, noticing that she was shivering slightly, the scientist took off his trench coat and placed it gently over her.

Otto then rose and walked over to his desk. Sitting down, he reached under the desk and retrieved his box of electronics and half finished inhibitor chip. "Well I'm not going out now," he told the tentacles firmly. "When she wakes up I want to be there to calm her down." The tentacles sniggered and wound round to face him. _Good luck_, they said shortly.


	4. Chapter 3: Where am I?

**Chapter 3: This definitely isn't home…**

The young girl stirred gently as she began to awake from her unconscious state. A small moan escaped her lips as she sat up slowly and placed a hand on her throbbing temple. Her head was pounding painfully, and she felt sick and light-headed. Around her she could hear creaking noises, and what sounded like lapping water. Gradually the pain in her head subsided, and the girl finally opened her eyes as she sat silently on a cold floor. She scanned her surroundings, and her forehead furrowed with immediate concern as she saw where she was. Or rather, where she _wasn't_.

She was inside some kind of derelict building, with a thick metal frame and timber boards forming its main body. There were cracks and holes all along the walls, and the metal frame creaked worryingly as a strong wind whistled through the building. Her eyes wide with fear, the girl looked at the wooden floor to see that it too, had numerous fractures and gaps within it. These only encouraged her terror, as she saw that beneath the building ran a wide body of water.

As the girl looked uncertainly at the floor, a cold wind blew across her face, whipping her red-gold hair around her shoulders. Her green eyes swept their gaze across the wide room, and she trembled with fear and shivered from the cold. Suddenly becoming aware of something close by her on the floor, the girl looked down and saw a large piece of leather material. Picking it up cautiously, she realised that it was in fact a large coat. Relieved to have something to shelter her from the cold, the girl quickly put it on. It swamped her body, as she wasn't the largest of girls, but at least it kept the cold out.

Now that the cold wasn't an issue, the girl wanted to get out of the building and see just where in the world she was. But as she went to rise to her feet, a shooting pain blasted through her leg and caused her to crash to the floor with a yelp. Biting her lip in pain, the young girl curled up into a ball. She hadn't a clue where she was or what had happened to her, and now she couldn't move or get away.

Tears rolled down the girl's cheeks as she wept quietly into her knees, and the cold wind caused the coat to billow around her feet. In her mind she tried desperately to remember where she had last been before blacking out, to try and make _some_ sense of her situation. Slowly images formed before her eyes, and a memory emerged from within her brain.

"_Anouk!" A woman shouted shrilly with anger in her voice. "Anouk come back here!" _

_Groaning with frustration, the 16 year old girl rolled her green eyes and turned to look behind her. The wind blew her red-gold hair across her shoulders as she stared at the dumpy woman who had yelled her name._

"_Oui Madame Voizin?" She replied wearily, her irritation obvious. She was in a hurry to get somewhere, and as usual the stubborn blonde nun had to stop her and complain about something. "You left the light on Anouk… You haven't got your coat Anouk… You haven't done the dishes Anouk… It's too late to go out Anouk… Whenever Anouk left the orphanage door, within a few seconds she would have that woman on her heels like at tracker dog, intent on delaying her. What is it this time? Anouk thought angrily._

_Placing her hands on her wide hips, the nun raised an eyebrow and huffed crossly as she looked at the teenager. "Don't take that tone with me Mon Cheri," she snapped. "Otherwise you can come back in and stay in."_

_Clenching her fists, Anouk's body tensed as she fought back a snide remark. Oh how she wished she could wipe that sneer off the fat nun's face. However she forced a pleasant smile on her face instead, and bit her tongue. "Forgive me Madame," she replied sweetly. "I should not have spoken to you like that. What was it you wanted?" Not that I care, the thought bitterly, the fake smile still on her face. _

_The nun gave Anouk a suspicious look; however she shook her head and folded her arms. "What I wanted was to know where exactly it is that you're head," she replied flatly in an icy tone. "It is nearly the infant's bedtime, and once again you, the eldest orphan, are running off without my knowledge. Care to explain yourself?"_

_Furrowing her eyebrows in bafflement, Anouk frowned at Madame Voizin. "But, I told Madame Muscat where I was going, surely she told you?" She asked slowly. It was true, Anouk had told the younger nun where she was headed, in the hope that she would be able to tell Madame Voizin herself. Apparently not. _

_The nun's eyes flickered with anger as she stared at the impudent teenager. "Insolent girl!" She barked. "When will you learn! I am the head nun in this orphanage, not Madame Muscat. Therefore you tell me where you are going!" Her round body was shaking with fury at this point, and Anouk knew she would be lucky if Madame Voizin let her out at all now._

"_I'm sorry Madame, I didn't realise…" She said defensively. "But if you must know, Monsieur Drou asked me to come by his shop and help him put away some of his new stock. So I'm not running away to join a brothel or a circus, despite what you may think of me!" She snapped back at the nun, face red with hostility. _

_Madame Voizin hated Anouk more than any other orphan in the village, she thought she was nothing but a waste of space. She wasn't the only person in the village to think so either, and Anouk was getting tired of all the negative treatment she received from other nuns and villagers. It seemed like Monsieur Drou was the only one who really liked her. _

_The problem was, Anouk couldn't understand what she had done to make almost everyone dislike her. She didn't try to make enemies out of anyone and was pleasant and respectful to anyone she met. She didn't act or dress differently to anyone else in the village, the only difference was that she spoke her mind._

_Anouk wasn't the kind of girl to just back down and let someone take advantage of her. She retaliated and spoke back to defend herself, as she had done with Madame Voizin. But of course, this wasn't normal in her village, where everyone listened to each other and never had a bad word to say. So consequently Anouk was labelled rude and disrespectful, the wolf within a village of sheep._

_But now Anouk had had enough, and something inside of her snapped. Glaring angrily at Madame Voizin, the teenager turned swiftly and strode away from the orphanage; deaf to the nun's cries of fury as she called her name._

_Her fists clenched tightly, Anouk stormed though the winding streets of the village on her way to Monsieur Drou's shop. She knew she would have to return to the orphanage later on and face Madame Voizin's wrath, but for now she would just help the kind old man as she had promised._

_However Anouk never reached the shop. She never got as far as the end of the alleyway before she was struck on the head by a heavy object, falling unconscious with a gentle thud onto the alley floor. _


	5. Chapter 4: You're going soft

**Chapter 4: You're going soft…**

**Authors Note: If anyone has seen the film or read the book Chocolat, then you may realise that all of the French surnames I used in the previous flashback were of characters in that film. Purely for the reason that I know very little French, and apart from those in the film, no French names. Oh yeah, and I adore the film…lol **

**I chose the name Anouk because not only is it a beautiful name, but I loved the character of Anouk in the film. Not that there is much of a resemblance… (And another connection, Alfred Molina plays a main character in Chocolat, as he does in Spiderman 2, coincidence eh?)**

"What do you mean, 'good luck'?" Otto asked the sniggering tentacles angrily.

_You're the scientist, you figure it out, _was all they replied as they hovered above his shoulders.

Otto wasn't impressed by this answer, and raising an eyebrow glared furiously at the tentacles. Hissing, they lowered themselves and one moved around Otto's neck to face him.

_It is obvious that she has not been brought here of her own accord, _it explained. _When she wakes up and sees a man with actuators emerging from his back, don't you think she'll be just a little startled? Personally we couldn't care less; she is just a weak human. _

Otto's lip curled as he gave the tentacles a look of loathing. Their superior air really cut through him, and he wanted nothing more than for them to be at the bottom of the river. "Well I guess that makes me a weak human too. But unfortunately you're stuck with me." He replied flatly.

However, one thing the tentacle had said was true, if the girl woke up and saw Otto standing over her, she _was_ going to be frightened. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "What you said about the girl waking up and being frightened was right though," he told the tentacles slowly. "But she doesn't need to see you when I talk to her. You can be hidden." He added pointedly, putting his other coat on from behind his chair. The tentacles uttered a muffled hiss in anger as the coat covered them over again.

All of a sudden, out of the blue, a small sad noise emerged from the corner of the lab. "What the…?" Otto quickly turned his head to where the noise had come from, and his dark eyes fell on the sleeping girl. Except now she wasn't sleeping. She was sitting up, wide awake and wearing his coat. Not only that, but she had curled up into a ball and was sobbing into her knees. Otto's momentary surprise subsided, and his eyes gazed sympathetically at the young girl. "Poor thing…" He murmured quietly to himself. "She must be terrified…"

_Who cares!_ The tentacles exclaimed suddenly, catching Otto by surprise again. _Either dump her outside or drop her in the river, she's just a weak little girl, and of no use to us! That note was obviously a joke; we can't believe you're even taking it seriously._

The tentacles' words sliced through Otto, and he found himself clenching his fists in anger. "Keep quiet…" he growled dangerously. "You may not care what happens to the girl, but I do. Now stay under the coat when I go over to her. So help me if you even show a claw…" he warned them angrily.

_Whatever… _The tentacles hissed irritably. _You're going soft Otto…_

Rolling his eyes, Otto ignored the remark, and slowly rose from his chair. Making sure that he didn't move too fast, the scientist padded cautiously over to where the girl was still crying. As his shadow fell over her quivering body, Otto slowly knelt down and waited in silence as the girl continued to weep. The icy wind blew through his dark hair and bit at his bare face, but still he waited, not sure whether to speak or touch her shoulder. After several moments, he decided to speak rather than startle her with physical contact. Taking a deep breath, Otto bit his lip and looked gently at the young girl.

"Hey, you ok?" he murmured softly. It was a stupid thing to say, but Otto wasn't one for emotional talking, and it was all he could think of.

As soon as he had spoken, the girl's crying ceased immediately. Gradually her head rose from her knees and she looked at Otto in terror. Her red-gold hair fell gracefully down her neck and over her shoulders, fluttering gently in the wind. Her eyes, deep sea green in colour, were wide and stricken with fear. Her delicate lips trembled as the last remaining tears from her eyes dropped to the floor. Her body seemed frozen as she stared at the strange man in front of her.

Otto smiled softly, and looked gently at the girl. "It's ok…" He said kindly, and went to stand and give the girl some breathing space. However his sudden movement seemed to bring her out of her frozen trance, as the panicked teenager suddenly gasped. Her eyes never left Otto as she tried to crawl backwards away from him, however the long coat she wore caused her to squeak and fall onto her back.

Her sudden movement had startled Otto considerably, but he overcame it quickly. Moving his hand forward towards the girl, he offered her help in getting back up. The girl took this gesture as a dangerous signal however, and shook her head manically, speaking so fast that Otto couldn't understand what she was saying. It was several moments before Otto realised that she wasn't actually speaking English, but French…

_Uh oh…_ The scientist quickly realised a sudden problem as the girl continued to mutter frantically in the foreign language. _I don't speak French…_


End file.
